Midnight B/S

[frenchblackcopper]

I purchased e-bay eggs two years ago and hatched out 4 supposedly Midnight B/S hens,and one Midnight B/S male.The 4 peahens are definately B/S,,as they are white mostly with black lacing or splotches in a lot of their feathers and some tannish-sandy brown feathers on their necks..Problem is,the male resembles exactly an India Blue B/S,,his neck feathers color is identical IB color as straight India Blues,or the single B/S India Blue peacock I have.
Question:>> Since the Midnight B/S doesn't look "Midnight" in darker color around the neck,,should I replace him now before breeding season with a breeding age Midnight B/S that looks,,like a Midnight B/S? If he is possibly an India Blue B/S,,I wonder how accurate this breeder is about the 4 B/S hens I have?? He will be 2 years old this summer and so will then hens.I wonder if I shouldn't just run my IB B/S with these 4 hens and be done with it,because I hate guessing at the final outcome.Anyone have a good picture of a Midnight B/S Male taken in good sunlight? I thought there is a very noticable diffrence between Midnight and India Blue,,and from what I have,they look identical,,,male wise that is.

 

[6littlechickies]

Try Leggs peafowl http://www.leggspeafowl.com/photo/images/midnightjrstrut2.jpg

 

[AugeredIn]

There is defintely a difference in color. The midnights are darker. The overall "tint" is more purple in the back feathers and train.

The Hopkins livestock page has the best comparison pictures.

Since your boy and girls are two years old they should both be fertile. I would let them breed and see if they are split midnight at least.

 

[Kev]

I think that is a very common problem. I bought & shipped in what was supposed to be a quad of yearling Midnights. The male arrived with a mostly normal looking blue neck...

The problem probably is partly due to BS and BS Mid hens looking the same. It would take very careful breeding tests to make sure a hen is pure Mid, especially if they were part of a program using splits or the birds got mixed up & weren't tagged.

I'm colorblind and the difference is very obvious even to me, as soon as the males get their shiny feathers on necks.

I sold the supposed Midnight group to someone- of course I was very clear about their history. The male did prove to be a Midnight split.. still unknown on the hens, from the chick ratios it seems probably all hens are splits, or maybe just one is a pure Midnight at most. I agree with the suggestion of breeding to see if yours happen to be splits.

Picture of BS Mid next to IB same age:




Normal BS and BS Mid siblings from the quad mentioned above(both same age and older than in above picture):

 

[connerhills]

Check the midnight on http://boxess.com/connerhills/ I have a few good photos that does reflect the true color of midnight male.. On the female it is Very hard to ID a midnight female from a standard B S female. george

 

[Arbor]

My midnight bs hen has very dark brown flight feathers, while my regular bs hen has very light reddish brown flights. It may be that there is considerable difference in colouring of even normal bs hens, I've only got one to compare with right now, so I can tell the difference between the two quite easily. I agree with the others, and you should breed them to find out if they are at least splits.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Okay,,seems my media card reader on the Dell here decided to not work,so I can't download pics off the media card at present,,but my male B/S Midnight looks identical to an India Blue.Craig Hopkins sent me pics of Midnight B/S hens,,showing the few greenish tinged feathers on the backside of their necks,,today inside I looked and didn't see this sheen on any of the 4 hens,,but tonight I plan to make a flashlite sneek viewing while their on the roost.I'm tempted to keep this so-called Midnight B/S Male and breed him only with India Blue hens,and buy a Midnight B/S Male,,that "Looks" the right color at least. You wait 2 years raising these birds,then getting ready to build pens and decide on who to breed with who,and now it's very clear what I was sold,,is not what it was advertised to be.

 

[Kev]

Did he state that mid bs peahens have the shiny feathers and non mid bs don't? Or the tint is different if the bs peahen happens to have some shiny feathers on her neck?

btw, bs mid male peachicks are recognizable as soon as they get the shiny feathers on necks. It looks very different from regular bs from the start.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

The pictures of Midnight B/S Hens he sent me has the shiney feathers on their necks,,my hens does not have them

 

[Kev]

I don't think shiny feathers on necks has anything to do with midnight on black shoulder hens. I've had bs hens with absolutely no chance of midnight with a clearly visible small patch of shiny green feathers on the upper back of neck. Others just don't have it. As far as I know, it's part of the normal variation between black shoulder hens.